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My trip out

After 4 weeks of isolation and getting by with what the village shop provides, I had to go to the supermarket in Thouars.  I actually felt a feeling of freedom as I drove away, if only for a 15 minute journey.  I had escaped for an hour.  The supermarket was busy but not crowded.  My son, who works in a supermarket in the UK said that every trolley used is wiped down with disinfectant.  Here there was no such precaution and inside there didn't seem to be much social distancing either, with customers chatting in groups.  But it was quiet for all that.  The world has taken on an eerie silence.  Great in some ways but disturbing in others.  As I was returning from my walk this morning a car came down the lane, unusual at the best of times, but this driver was so surprised to see someone that his whole face changed and he nearly went into the ditch.

There is a worldwide shortage of masks but more and more countries are insisting that everyone wear one when they step outside.  Trump's answer to the problem?  'Wear a scarf, I am sure people have a scarf in a drawer somewhere.'   Mm, we will see what he is wearing next time he leaves the White House.

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